STB Velocity 64V
The Velocity 64V was based on S3's Vision968 chipset, just like numerous competitors this year including the Number Nine Motion 771, Diamond Stealth 64 Video VRAM, ELSA Winner 2000 Pro/X, Genoa VideoBlitz III AV, and Hercules Graphite Terminator Pro.
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Released | 1995 |
| Bus | PCI | |
| Chipset | S3 Vision968 | |
| Standards | Hercules, CGA, EGA, VGA | |
| Memory | 4 MB of EDO VRAM | |
| RAMDAC | IBM RGB524 (220 MHz) | |
| Ports | 15-pin DSUB (analogue video out) | |
| Part # | ||
| FCC ID | - | |
| Price | At launch: $449 | |
| See Also | Horizon+ |
It supported resolutions up to 1600 x 1200 in 64,000 colours at 80 Hz.
Board Revisions
I don't have any information on board revisions for the Velocity 64V cards.
Competition
As mentioned, the Velocity 64V was their implementation of S3's Vision968 chipset, which it shared with other cards this year, including the Number Nine Motion 771, Diamond Stealth 64 Video VRAM, ELSA Winner 2000 Pro/X, Genoa VideoBlitz III AV, and Hercules Graphite Terminator Pro.
3D was becoming the new battleground, and S3 were a step ahead, launching the replacement to their Vision series with the ViRGE in 1995 - featuring direct hardware support for bilinear and trilinear texture filtering, MIP mapping, alpha blending, video texture mapping, Z-buffering and other 3D texture mapping. In competition, we had ATI with the Rage 3D chipset.
Video acceleration was also something buyers were seeking, with a combination of Windows 95, faster CPUs and more memory, video playback on your desktop was now a reality. Chipsets aiming to provide this in 1995 included ATI Mach64, Matrox MGA2064W. I.C. Works ZoomDAC, S3 Vision 968, Western Digital WD9710, Videologic PowerPlay 64 and Tseng Labs VIPeR f/x.
In the Media
Outfitted with 4MB of EDO (extended data out) VRAM that gives it faster memory-to-controller performance, the Velocity is one of six cards we reviewed based on the popular S3 Vision 968 graphics accelerator chip. This 64-bit graphics engine features a full set of the standard Windows acceleration functions plus hardware acceleration for scaling digital video in Cinepak, Indeo, and Video for Windows formats.
The Velocity's refresh capabilities, provided by IBM's 220 MHz RGB524 RAMDAC, are thoroughly respectable if not quite stratospheric. It can manage an ergonomic 80-Hz refresh rate in 16-bit color mode at 1,600 by 1,200 pixels, and in true-color 1,280-by-1,024 mode it runs at 85 Hz. Lower resolutions with 24-bit color depths can be pushed to a nearly flicker-free vertical refresh rate of 100 Hz.
The STB card delivered respectable Windows acceleration as well. Although it performed slightly below average on our applications-based Winstone 95 tests, it achieved better results than some higher-priced cards, including the MGA Impression Plus cards. Running in 16-bit color mode at 1,600-by-1,200 pixels, it placed in the middle of the pack on our Graphics Winmark 95 tests. Boosting the color depth hurt performance, cutting the Velocity's rankings at 1,200-by-1,024 resolution to near the bottom of the heap.
In handling standard vector drawings, the card proved as adept as the leaders. Photoshop users will note, however, that it dropped to the middle of the lineup on our Raster Rotate test. Unfortunately, AutoCAD drivers did not arrive in time for our tests; the company claims that they will be available by the time you read this.
In hands-on tests, we found STB's bundled software controls adequate to most tasks. The installation routine is fairly straightforward and offers a list of over 300 predefined monitor setups, so you don't need to spend time playing with refresh rates and resolutions. A group of icons lets you switch Windows resolutions on the fly.
In addition to the standard suite of bird's-eye zoom and DPMS controls, STB includes ColorIt with the Velocity. ColorIt lets you adjust RGB levels, brightness, contrast, and color temperature. It also contains a handy list of settings to adjust your display automatically to match the lighting conditions in your work space. Unfortunately, conducting precise gamma correction with ColorIt is a tricky process: If you want a specific setup, you need to know exactly what numerical values to enter.
One other notable software feature is STB's multiple-desktop utility, which lets you hide applications on different virtual screens. You can save, say, Program Manager on an 800-by-600, 256-color screen and Photoshop on a 1,280-by-1,024, 24-bit color screen. When you switch between desktops, the resolution and color depth change automatically. The only danger is forgetting where your application is.
To those looking for an inexpensive Windows hot rod that can double as a part-time 24-bit graphics vehicle, the Velocity 64V has several points in its favor. Those who want more should spend more money on one of the faster 24-bit color performers in this roundup."
PC Magazine, June 1995
Setting it Up
I have no information on setting up the Velocity 64V.
Downloads
For Windows NT 3.51, use the embedded S3 Vision968 drivers in the operating system.
Operation Manual Get in touch if you can provide this missing item! |
Original Utility Disk Velocity 64V Utility/Drivers release 1.3 |
ROM BIOS Get in touch if you can provide this missing item! |
Windows 3.1 Drivers Velocity 64 STB Vision2 Windows 3.x Drivers release 2.11p |
Windows 95 Drivers STB Vision 95 drivers release 1.20i |
Windows NT 4.0 Drivers STB (S3 Non-ViRGE) Windows NT 4.0 Drivers release 1.0 |
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